Jollibee set to open 120 new stores in Malaysia

Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is building a bigger business in Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia’s largest economies, with a goal to open at least 120 new restaurants under the flagship Jollibee brand in 10 years.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, JFC said its wholly owned Singapore-based subsidiary, Golden Plate Pte. Ltd. (GPPL), signed a deal to form a joint venture company to own and operate Jollibee stores in West Malaysia, which includes the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

The joint venture partner is Beeworks Investment Pte. Ltd. (BIPL), which is majority owned by Patrick Chong, a franchisee for Jollibee East Malaysia that covers Kota Kinabalu. Chong is a long-standing investor in Malaysia through his company, The Luxasia Group, described as an “omnichannel leader in luxury beauty and lifestyle brands.”

Under the agreement, the parties will establish a Malaysian company that is 30 percent-owned by GPPL and 70-percent by BIPL.

GPPL and BIPL have committed to initially invest $8 million to the joint venture, of which up to $2.4 million will be contributed by GPPL in proportion to its ownership in the business.

The joint venture company will have the exclusive license rights to develop the Jollibee brand in West Malaysia. The partners will roll out the stores beginning next year.

To date, JFC has 104 stores in Malaysia, only one of which is under the Jollibee brand. The remaining stores consist of specialty retailer Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

This joint venture is seen to scale up its business in Malaysia as part of an increasing focus to grow the business, especially the flagship Jollibee brand, elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The region currently accounts for 6.7 percent of JFC’s global sales coming from a total of 885 stores.

“The creation of the joint venture for Jollibee West Malaysia will accelerate even more this growth and will help make Southeast Asia a more significant business for the JFC group,” the disclosure said. INQ